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Over 14,609 reviews forMinneapolis Basement Remodeling Contractors from people just like you.

A

"They're very creative. We have an older home so when we ran into problems, they were creative problem solvers. They're very competent creatively and" ...More structurally. They will solve any problems to your satisfaction. The entire crew was fantastic and they always cleaned up. Everyone was very professional and the owner was very personalized. He met whenever we needed him to, worked very well with the crew, and gave us summary notes. He also worked with our suggestions.

also designed and installed a large closet" ...More and three sets of shelving for storage, which was enormously helpful to me in my quest to create more useful space without incurring the cost of an entire basement remodel. All of the work performed looked great - and still does, nearly two years later. (Sorry Angie's List and

that this took me so long!) He was thoughtful, flexible and courteous, and helped me out with a couple of minor repairs that were not connected to the project. I had no complaints at all about this company, and would definitely hire them again. In fact, I tried to hire

back last year when I was ready to proceed with my sun room, but he was already booked out and not taking on house additions. Highly recommended!

Get use out of every square inch of your house and add value to your home by finishing your basement space. Remodeling your basement can add a family room, in-home theater, kid's play area or a guest suites for the in-laws.

Inspiration & Ideas

Angie's Answers

An itemized list / cost breakdown, more often than not is used against the contractor when it is shared with other builders who will then beat it.

Good contractors use good people, and good people cost more. Just the cost of having the appropriate insurance / bond can be the difference between winning a job or losing it ot a 'lower bid'.

It is the rule of three; there is Good, Cheap and Fast. You can have any two: Good and Cheap, won't be Fast; Good and Fast, won't be Cheap; Cheap and Fast, won't be Good!

When comparing bids, it isn't the cheapest or the 'nicest' person you should select. You should understand why there is a large price difference (it shows there are gaps in your design program or what you have asked for specifically, which means there may be arguments later). If most of the bids are in line, and one is way high or way low, you want to know why before dismissing or selecting them.

No. Heck no. Here's a good example. We very recently needed to find someone to install about 500 square feet of exotic wood flooring (we already have the materials). We contacted about 12-15 top-rated Angieslist contractors. Out of the few who did get back to us, we got 5 quotes, 2 of them were literally just over the phone. They "didn't feel it would be necessary to even see the space".

Here were the bids:

$4000 (sight unseen), $2800 (sight unseen), $2500, $1500, $1450

We didn't "share our budget for this". Why would we? We asked them to bid the job. That's it. All of them should be well-qualified and they are all highly rated. We were interested in how THEY value their time/resources - for an apples/apples job.

Do you still think that you should tell them about your budget? Your choice. From my standpoint it isn't their business. I'm asking them to bid on a project. Invariably I'll get some very high bids, medium bids and a few more reasonable ones - ALL from "highly rated contractors".

Herlonginc's answer stated that it is not the contractor's job to pay for materials and labor to do the job. I say baloney - a reputable, established contractor has the funds (or a business operations line of credit) to "carry" the job between interim or partial payments, each of which should be keyed to completion of distinct easily measured mileposts in the job, and for a homeowner I would say should be in not more than 20% increments for jobs exceeding a week or so. For shorter jobs, then an initial payment, 50% completion, and completion would be normal. His cost of carry funds is part of his cost of doing business, and is figured as part of his overhead.Bear in mind when he is buying materials and paying labor, his materials he typically pays for on a 10-30 day invoice, and his labor typically a week or two after they work, so he is not really "fronting" that much money if you are giving him weekly or biweekly interim payments, on a typical residential job.

If he does not have the funds to buy materials (excepting possibly deposit on special-order or luxury items, which still typically are 10-30 day invoiceable to him) and hire personnel then he is a fly-by-night operation, and he should not be bidding that size job. You should never (other than MAYBE an earnest deposit of not more than the LESSER of 10% or $5000) let the payments get ahead of the approved/inspected work progress - typically payment should be 10-20% BEHIND the progress, with at least 10% retained at the effective end of work until final inspections and completion of the final "punchlist".

That promotes rapid continuation of the work, discourages the all-too common nightmare of contractors taking on more work than they can handle so they leave your job for weeks or months to go work on someone else's job (frequently to start that someone else's new job so he can get the job), and does not leave you out a tremendous amount of cash if he does not finish and you have to hire another contractor to finish the job. Remember, if you have to hire a new contractor to finish the job, he will charge you a lot more than the original bid to finish someone else's unfinished mess.

This may seem cynical, but having started in the construction business about 50 years ago and seeing the shenanigans that a lot of contractors pull you cannot be too safe. You have to remember contractors are like any other people - I would say maybe 10% are outright crooks, another 25% or so will pull a fast one or overcharge if the opportunity presents itself, maybe 30% will do the work but not any better than they are forced to, about 25% are good conscientious reputable workmen, and the last 10% or so are really spectacular - conscientious, fair, and efficient craftsmen. This top 35% are the only ones you should have bidding in the first place. Therefore, only get bids from long-term reputable firms (so you shake out the marginal short-timers with less experience and also generally less ability to finish the job on budget and schedule), only those that have good RECENT references, and preferably with excellent word-of-mouth recommendation from people you know and trust. That way, you are starting right off with the cream of the crop, so hopefully whichever one bids low should be a good choice.

NEVER start with bids, then check the references of the low bidder - why even consider a vendor or contractor who you do not have faith in from the start ? Get references and short-list you possibles BEFORE you ask for bids.

Low bids - that is another matter - commonly the low bidder is NOT who you want, especially if he is significantly lower than several others, which might mean he is desperate for work, made a math error, or did not correctly figure the entire scope of work. You want a reasonable bid with someone you connect with and trust - that is worth a lot more in the success of the job than the absolute lowest bid.

For this type of job, you need plans and specs from an Architectural/Engineering firm before thinking about contractors - and to get a building permit.
Ben's method would work and done incrementally could cost well over $100,000 plus as he says, but this not really the most economic way to approach this big a job. A House Mover or Foundation Underpinning specialty company can usually slide your house onto a whole new foundation, or jack it up on steel beams and hold it there while a basement is dug underneath it, without any intermediate piers. The jacking/move cost would probably be on the order of $30-40,000, and a new basement probably about $40-50,000 - rough ballpark, though I have been involved in some 1000-1500SF single story jobs that went for under $70,000 total.
I have been involved in a fair number of these type jobs - and the way the numbers come out, if there is room on the property to move the house, it is almost always nearly as cheap or cheaper to build an equivalent square footage (basement plus ground level) addition rather than add a basement under the house, and that way your new footage is half above ground so worth more on resale, plus you do not lose use of the house for a month or two. Second cheapest is usually sliding house to a new foundation, if property is large enough to do this - though house is totally cut off from utilities for a week to three. Most expensive, and usually only done in tight city environments or with full 2 story or higher houses, is adding the foundation in place, though your utility interruptions should be on the order of hours at a time rather than days or weeks.
Talk to an architect - I think you will quickly lean towards the addition option rather than adding a basement - it is just too expensive to deepen foundations in most cases, plus you WILL get cracking in the house and possible water and sewer pipe problems in a move/underpinning job, which is not the case with an addition. This become more likely the case since you want to add 8 feet off the back of the home anyway - so why not just enlarge the addition and do it all that way - MUCH simpler, and MUCH less disruption of your life, and you get much higher resale return on your investment.

arrived at a previously arranged time to walk through the property and give us recommendations and advice on any necessary repairs (including the roof and water seepage in the basement) and the potential (including costs) of converting a large sunroom into a master bedroom and finishing the basement. After a couple of hours

clearly knew what he was talking about and made my wife and I feel a lot more comfortable as first time home buyers (especially since we were buying an old home). Rather than discuss expensive drain tiles as my wife and I expected, he recommended gutters, drainage spouts, and landscapping to try to control the seepage in the basement. The cost of $75 to pick his brain (especially on a weekend) was extremely valuable. Plus the money will be credited for future work (which will definitely be coming)!”

- Jonathan M.

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The project went very well. Timely, the cost went up but i did add to the scope of work.

restored the exterior of my craftsmen home in south Minneapolis.

pointed the brick, re-built my front stoop, finished the basement, drain tile. They also opened the kitchen to the living room by removing a wall, added ...More supports. Installed new kitchen cabinets, granite, tile, 2 new baths, restored the natural wood work. They were very professional, took their time and were very detailed. I'm really impressed. This was not an easy,

project, but they managed the project extremely well.”

- Tom P.

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was an absolute professional in our deck install, especially given the complexity of the one we installed. Given that it was installed over a flat roof, we had a specialty decking and railing that needed to be installed to meet code. In both situations, he was great in working with the suppliers and railing specialist. He's ...More reliable, and knows what he is doing. All in all, great work and would hire him again for our projects.”

- JESSICA L.

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Very well.

is friendly and easy to work with. He came in before I had the drain tile system installed to take a look. He was flexible in scheduling the project as it was a somewhat time sensitive job - between tenants. He did a very nice job putting the kitchen back together against the wall, hanging doors and shelving, and ...More laying tile.
The job was completed as quoted within the time frame he promised. Would recommend and hire again.

”

- Jack S.

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In a nutshell: we are so happy that we chose

for this project! From beginning to end,

and the rest of the crew at

were exceptional, and we couldn't be happier with the process or the finished result! We are telling everyone we know to call

for any ...More remodeling/construction projects they are considering!

Now, for those that like the details, read on...

I called

in mid-September to schedule an appointment for them to take a look at our basement project. Two days later,

and

came out to walk the basement with us and discuss our plans. During the visit,

emphasized how important customer satisfaction was to him and to

, and he showed us a binder full of testimonials to prove it (although we had already seen plenty of evidence supporting this on Angie's List!).

We expected to get an estimate within a few days, but were surprised when

emailed a detailed estimate of the entire project within a few hours of our meeting. The estimate provided all costs and recommended finish elements (or allowances for items that needed to be selected), and included a separate section with costs for optional items that were also discussed (we were on the fence as to whether to include a built-in bar in the project).

In addition to

, we interviewed two other companies, and ended up asking one of them for a formal bid (the other was eliminated based on the interview). That bid took almost a month to come in (a missed meeting and a few missed "I'll e-mail you the proposal tomorrow" deadlines), and when it did, it was a vague approximation of the project with no real details to back up the estimate. It was also a bit higher than

's bid and with less of the options, but that wasn't ultimately why we decided to go with

. It was the level of detail and the promptness and professionalism that

demonstrated that made us more confident in their ability to successfully complete the project.

Because of the length of time it took for the second bid to come in, it was now mid-October when I called

back to tell him we wanted

to do the project. It may be that we were very lucky, or it may be that

is that good, but

said they could begin the project the following week, and that it would take around seven weeks to complete.

As promised, the framing crew, a dumpster and a load of lumber showed up the following Wednesday, and the project was underway. Fast-forward to today, and I am writing this review from the desk in my new basement office. Everything is done, inspections are passed, the dumpster is gone, and we're now awaiting the delivery of a sectional to sit on and a plasma TV to watch while enjoying the bar and the fireplace, all with convenient access to a full bathroom!

Though

's company did not install the gas fireplace insert (he had us work directly with a separate company to install that) or do the electrical (he bid for it, but was willing to remove it from his bid and let us work directly with a good friend who is a licensed electrical contractor to complete the electrical), he was responsible for everything else, including the new bathroom, the tile, cabinets and granite in the new bar, the tile and mantel around the fireplace, the installation of a new energy efficient furnace, and all other finishing work. The quality of the work is top-notch, and the final results speak for themselves.

As we sent pictures to our family and friends along the way, or as they saw

coming and going from our home, no one could believe how quickly the project was progressing, and how on top of everything

was. So different than many of their experiences with other contractors on their projects that went long or over budget or both.

Of course, I would be lying if I said there were no bumps along the way. There were a few. But none of them were significant enough to knock the project off schedule, and none of them

to any unforeseen or additional costs for us. Whatever the issues,

just took care of them. When I received the original estimate, I worried there was no way

could know so precisely what the project was going to cost, and I expected there to be some changes or additional charges along the way. I was wrong. There were a few changes, but only those that we requested and that were detailed and priced in change orders. Other than that, the original estimate came in to the penny. Truly remarkable.

Above all, I want to say that

was a joy to work with throughout the project. He did a phenomenal job of discussing options with us, recommending and designing the room layouts, and recommending finish options. He was always thinking not just about what we wanted, but also about how to accomplish it in the most cost-effective way. And he even threw in a few extras at no additional cost to us, because he wanted to be sure that we were delighted with the finished product. We are!

After less than seven weeks start-to-finish on this project, my only suggestion to

? Perhaps you should consider changing your name to Ahead Of Time Contractors!

Thanks,

-- you and

are fantastic!”

- Geoff T.

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“

Left a huge mess of construction debris first promised to get rid of it then changed tune to " job is finished and debris removal was not part of bid"
we hired

to do excavation ,footings, block work and slab for a 14x28 addition. He seemed to be very trustworthy . Contract was signed 10/16/13 and we gave him a ...More check for $2000 for deposit, Th full contract was for $4500. He wrote out a very

contract ( too

) where he promised to have the job done in 4-5 days rain pending, it took him a month to complete the job many days were fine weather and he could have worked but

did not show up or call. The hole was dug fast and he seemed promising at first. Then we apparently upset him by my contractor calling him to find out when he will be done and why it was taking so long. ( not under my instruction) after that it was down hill , he had an attitude and was very rammy he completed the work, but with the bulldozer ran into the corner of the block ruining that,an into a tree in my yard ,that he ripped out and tossed to the side and covered up 2 of my gardens (that were clearly fenced around to be avoided, i even told him to avoid tree and gardens) originally he bid was for $4500 tops, he ran into a bit more work than expected with our back step having to be taken out it took 1 man 5 hours to get rid of it He added $800 for this . we asked to have the space sealed and he charged and additional $800 for this we asked to have a window cut so have entry to the crawl space . He charged $500 . At many different times i asked to make sure grading the yard was included he said "yes the yard will be graded " at those times later at pay off time all of a sudden they were not, and he charged another $500 for grading. in total he was paid $7100 not $4500 . at all times the debris removal was part of the job. when i later called him to ask him if the yard had been graded and when he would take away the debris he started saying the job is finished. The debris was placed on in the

on my neighbors pad taking up their parking space they had agreed to let us use this for a short period of time , but not to leave it there. My carpenters started working on building on nov11th and needed the nuts for securing the bottom plate to the flooring, I sent him a text asking about them to which he sent me a text back saying" the guys accidentally threw them on the truck and he would drop the off tomorrow, and pick up the dirt as well" he never came to get the dirt/concrete debris.I tried calling texting , calling from other #'s but no response. it has been 2 weeks i finally reached him yesterday to talk to him about coming to get it again he said " jobs finished" when i said no he promised to come back and get the dirt he started making personal attacks about myself, family , life , husband and children. very inappropriate since I was only talking to him about his work and business . i ended the conversation but did resend him the text i received from him of november 11th saying he was coming to get the dirt but no response. I also asked if the grading had been done already to which his response was " jobs finished" i asked what the yard would look like had I not paid you to grade my yard? he said " like s***" I said well thats exactly what I have here, my yard looked better before he started.
Also when they cut the hole into the cement wall for the crawl space

kept assuring me that the mess of dust would be minimal, I taped an area off for the work to be done. My husband who also works construction said the workers should have made their own work space and been responsible for cleaning up after themselves. They made no effort to secure the space any further and began cutting, without turning off the furnace . The dust went everywhere 2 weeks later Im still dealing with this. The dust was sucked into the brand new vent work and is covering the inside of all my vents throughout the house.”

- Susan F.

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We bought a 1940's home that had a very outdated basement. We had some complications with a hot water heater that vented across a window, and an old Federal Pacific electrical box, which is known to be a fire hazard. We also had some issues with the wood-burning fireplace and a wall due to some recent asbestos removal. We not only needed someone ...More to remodel the basement, we needed someone with ideas (as design is not our sweet spot) and someone who could do, or manage, a large range of work.
I had four companies bid the remodel, and

's bid was very competitive. During the initial meeting, I told

that I had no design sense and needed someone with ideas. I said I wanted to update the basement, but still keep a look that was authentic to the period.

had some great ideas, and I immediately felt like I could work well with him. I was not disappointed. He was very responsive. Not only when it came to returning the estimate, but any time I had a question or new idea I wanted to run by him. He let me know when he would be here, what he would be working on, and what he would be working on next. I loved being kept up to date with the schedule. He was friendly, yet professional. He also paid close attention to detail. He was very careful to keep the "mess" that goes with a remodeling job to a minimum, and always protected the floors upstairs when he was working.
We were pleased with all aspects of the work that was done. The biggest surprise, however, was the handcrafted bookshelves and mantel that

built himself. They were a craftsman style, which went perfectly with the rest of the house. And they were beautiful!
My husband and I would highly recommend

as we were delighted with all the work he did on our basement!”

- Michelle B.

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“

The work went well, was done in a timely fashion, and all workers (general construction/drywall, plumbing & electricians) were friendly, professional and focused. They creatively addressed the challenges of placing a bathroom in a basement of an older home with sometimes quirky current features to create the largest most efficient bathroom layout. ...More Considering this is an older home, OTC appropriately addressed issues to insure everything would be up to current codes and found solutions to address issues that arose.”